


A Little Push

by LadyKalrissa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Humor, Black Hermione Granger, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Head Boy Draco Malfoy, Head Girl Hermione Granger, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Original Character(s), Potions Accident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 04:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29620908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKalrissa/pseuds/LadyKalrissa
Summary: Hermione and Draco have been friends for some time now, even if just in private. Forever the realist, Hermione has kept her growing feelings to herself. Confusion stirs within when Draco starts acting oddly out of nowhere.Will Hermione continue to fight these feelings or will she allow herself to fall under his spell?Non-Voldemort AU set in seventh year.***Draco walked up to Hermione, backing her against the edge of the table behind her. He cupped her face with his hands and tilted her face up to his, staring deep into her eyes.“Listen to me very clearly.” He paused, making sure he had her attention. “I don’t give afuckabout what other people think. I’m talking about you and me.”Hermione tried to speak but he continued.“I’m talking about what we want, right now, at this moment.”
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 9
Kudos: 74





	A Little Push

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: Disclaimer that I do not own any of the characters in this story excluding the side character’s I’ve created for the sake of the fic. Non-Voldemort AU leads characters to acting OOC. I want to give thanks to my writing mentor and one of my best friends for reading some scenes I was worried about and to Grammarly for helping me edit.

**…Tuesday night…**

The sound of her foot tapping echoed in the empty hallway as Hermione stood there waiting. She looked at her watch for the third time, noticing that fifteen minutes had passed since she arrived. She let out a deep exhale, closed her eyes, and further leaned into the wall. _He’s always late. Why is he always late?_

Draco Malfoy. The pair weren’t close when they first met. Opposing houses, different upbringings. Hermione stayed clear of his lot best she could, but they always seemed to be in each other's space. The quarrels were mostly with the boys. Harry and Ron always seemed to be on Draco’s radar while Hermione got the brute of her issues from Pansy Parkinson and other Pureblood snobs.

It was childish things looking back at it. Everyone was raised to believe something different and it all came to heads after arriving at Hogwarts. But after a while, whether from boredom or new targets, the issues became far and fewer between.

After being chosen as Prefects in their fifth year, the two started having rounds together. Two people considered opposites in so many ways, able to find some common ground. As they grew closer, the two spent more time together. They studied in the back of the library and talked about home life on their rounds of the castle.

This year, they had grown closer. Being Head Boy and Girl allowed them to have more time together through their duties. They’d work on rounds for the Prefects, meet with the clubs at Hogwarts to help keep order. The pair even organized events for the entire student body.

They worked well together.

To the outside world, they were two students that put their duty above their distaste for the other. But in private, they got along very well.

Hermione rolled her neck, trying to loosen up the tightness that grew as she waited for him.

She thought working closer with Draco Malfoy this year would help shake away some of the feelings that had been stirring up. All the late nights they had this year was starting to get to Hermione in a way she didn’t see coming.

&&&&&&

_**It had to be almost midnight that night and Hermione was worn out. She couldn’t focus and had read the paragraph for the fifth time without retaining any information.** _

**_Hermione let out a defeated sigh and slammed her face into the book._ **

**_“Ouch”, she said in a monotoned voice._ **

**_“What’s going on over there, Granger?”_ **

**_Hermione looked up to see Draco copying something from the textbook into his notebook._ **

**_“I’m tired. My brain is full. I’m calling it.”_ **

**_Draco looked down at his platinum watch. “It’s only a quarter past 10. We’ve only been here for an hour. How are you already calling it in?”_ **

**_Hermione grabbed his wrist and looked at the time. “It’s not midnight?”_ **

**_He looked at her confused. “Not even close.”_ **

**_She groaned as she settled back in her seat._ **

**_“Take a nap. I’ll wake up in a bit.”_ **

**_“I could never sleep at these tables. All hunched over and stuff, I’ll do my back in.”_ **

**_Draco stretched and rose from his seat. He grabbed the book he was reading and his cloak before grabbing hers off the back of her chair. “Follow me.”_ **

**_Hermione trailed behind him. She watched as he sat down on the floor and folded her cloak into a square. He sat it on top of his lap and looked up at her._ **

**_“Come lay down.”_ **

**_“What?”_ **

**_“You said you can’t sleep at the table, right? Lay down. Your cloak is the pillow, mine with be your blanket. Sleep for a bit and I’ll wake you.”_ **

**_Hermione looked around. Of course, no one was there. Not this far back in this section. That’s why they chose it. No one around means no questions._ **

**_“I don’t know.”_ **

**_“Well, you can try and sleep on the hard floor but okay.” He started to move to stand._ **

**_“Wait!”, she said quickly. “Just.. hold up.”_ **

**_He looked up at her with a questioning look._ **

**_“Okay, fine. And thank you.”_ **

**_“Sure thing. Just don’t drool.”_ **

**_“I don’t drool”, she told him as she moved to lay down._ **

**_After her head settled on his lap, she felt the warmth of his cloak over her. The smell of his cologne washed over her and this combination relaxed her immediately._ **

**_“I’ll close my eyes for like five minutes then we have to study.”_ **

**_“For the love of Salazar. Shut up and sleep Granger”, he laughed._ **

**_She smiled softly as she felt his body shake._ **

**_As she tried to relax, her mind started to run causing Hermione to grow tense. This was the closest she had ever been to Draco intentionally. Is this okay? He offered so it had to be okay, right? What if someone did wander back here and see them? It was inappropriate for them to be in the position. It wasn’t sexual but it was still… Intimate? Is it? Or is this-_ **

**_“Oh my gosh. I can hear the gears in your head spinning. You’re as stiff as stone. Just relax and take the bloody nap.”_ **

**_“Sorry.” Hermione shift slightly and willed her body to relax. His cloak was still so warm, leading her to think he cast a warming charm on it. She burrowed in more, listening to his voice as he read aloud in a hushed tone. Her eyelids grew heavy and she allowed herself to relax enough to finally get to sleep._ **

**_*~*_ **

**_“Granger?”_ **

**_Hermione didn’t want to get up. She was comfortable and warm._ **

**_“Graaaaanger.”_ **

**_She stirred, turning herself on her back to take the pressure off her shoulder. Hermione didn’t want to open her eyes, she only wanted five more minutes._ **

**_Hermione felt the body beneath her shake in a laugh. The sensation of fingertips on her forehead brought her more forward into consciousness. The movement went across her forehead and behind her ear, tucking a curl behind it._ **

**_“Your hair is so soft.”_ **

**_“Thanks”, she mumbled in response._ **

**_“What do you use?”_ **

**_“My mum mails me a shea butter mix she makes.”_ **

**_“Why?”_ **

**_Hermione covered her face with her hands and rubbed her eyes before opening them._ **

**_She saw Draco looking down at her with questioning grey eyes and a soft smile._ **

**_“Why, what?”_ **

**_“Why not just use stuff from the Wizarding World? I’ve seen Pansy with dozens of different products.”_ **

**_“I just… don’t. There aren’t many options I can use and the few that are available leave this weird feeling in my hair.” Hermione sat up from his lap and stretched her arms above her head. “Plus it makes me feel a lot closer to home. It’s nice to hear from my mum, check in on things.”_ **

**_“They’re teeth healers, right? Your parents.”_ **

**_Hermione laughed softly. “Yeah, something like that.”_ **

**_She looked back at him and found him staring. Draco quickly turned to collect his book._ **

**_“You were dead to the world. I’ve been trying to wake you for a while.”_ **

**_“How long did you let me sleep?”_ **

**_“Just half an hour. How do you feel?”_ **

**_Hermione nodded her head. “I feel good. Thank you for helping me rest.”_ **

**_“No problem”, he replied as he stood._ **

**_Draco looked down at Hermione, reached an arm down to her, and helped her stand._ **

**_“Let’s get back to studying, yeah?” he asked with a smile that gave Hermione butterflies._ **

**_“Sure thing.”_**

&&&&&&

That was just before the Christmas holiday. Since then, Hermione hadn’t been about to get Draco off her mind. It was the most caring she had seen him, completely putting him in a new light for her.

She didn’t want to think of him this way. She knew that nothing would come from the feelings she started having for him. And if something would start, it wouldn’t be anything good.

The sound of running through the halls pulled Hermione away from her thoughts. She opened her eyes to see Draco running over to her.

Hermione pushed herself off the wall and looked down at her watch. 

“Twenty minutes, Malfoy? Really?”, she asked.

“Sorry”, he said stopping in front of her. “Practice ran late.”

“It’s Tuesday, why are you having practice today?”

“You know I have a game in two weeks. Had to call in for extra practice, get my team in shape. Forgive me?”

Draco gave her an innocent, half-smile. The one she hates. The one that stops her from staying mad.

“I know you have responsibilities as Captain but I thought this year would be a little different.”

He chuckled slightly. “And why would you think that?”

Hermione turned and began walking. She waited until she heard Draco’s steps next to her before responding. “Because we’re Head Boy and Head Girl this year. We’re supposed to be setting an example for the Prefects and other students.”

“I don’t even get why we’re still doing rounds. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, it’s grunt work. Prefect’s job. Head Boy and Girl never do rounds.”

“I want to change things this year. Show that there’s a different way to be a leader.”

“Starting your speech for Minister of Magic already, Granger?”, he joked as they turned the corner.

Hermione rolled her eyes and didn’t respond.

“So, any exciting plans this weekend?”, Draco asked.

Hermione shrugged. “Not really. Hogsmeade on Saturday, just walk around for a bit.”

“Are one of your boyfriends taking you out for a romantic evening?”

Hermione scoffed. “What boyfriends?”

“Potter”, Draco stated factually.

“You know he’s dating Ginny.”

“Longbottom”, he continued, ignoring her.

“I’m pretty sure he’s still trying to ask out Luna.”

“Oh, and we can’t forget about Weaselbee.”

Hermione hesitated. “I’m… Not talking about that.”

Draco lightly grabbed her arm, stopping them. “Tell me you’re not still hung up on him.”

Hermione looked down, not making eye contact. “I’m not. But that doesn’t mean I want to talk about it.”

“Did you ever tell him how-“

“No”, she stated quickly. “And I’m not going to. You know and that’s bad enough.”

Hermione slid her arm from his touch. “Are you ready for the dance next Saturday?”, she said trying to change the subject.

“Ah yes, we can’t forget about that", he replied in an odd tone. 

“What’s got you so annoyed? Too many girls at your beck and call to ask out?”

“Well, yes. It’s exhausting having so many options”, he responded sarcastically. “How is one to choose?”

“We all know you’re going to ask Pansy so…”, she started, leading them up the stairs to the next floor.

Draco looked at Hermione shocked. “You’ve not been keeping up with news, my dear Granger.”

“What news?”

“Pansy is officially off the market.” When they finally reached the top, Draco pointed one hand in each direction. “Which way?”

“Um, start from the left then we’ll loop around?”

He nodded in agreement and began walking.

“What do you mean ‘she’s off the market’?”

“Oh, she and Nott got together ages ago. Didn’t he tell you?”

Hermione thought for a moment. “No, not that I recall. I mean, I’m closer to you than I am to Theo.”

Draco looked over at her with a questioning look.

“What?”, she asked confused.

“How are you not _that_ close with him and you call him ‘Theo’. But you and I are supposed to be friends and you only call me ‘Malfoy’.”

“Because we both know you’re only friends with me to piss off your father.”

Draco gasped dramatically. “That’s not true at all.”

Hermione stopped walking, turning to Draco with one eyebrow raised.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t a bonus. I just said that’s not the reason.”

“Then what is?”, she asked walking once more.

“Because you’re interesting.”

“Go on.”

“You’re smart. I can hold a conversation with you without your eyes glossing over.”

“Yeah, been there.”

“And, you have a mean right hook.”

Hermione tried to hide her smile. She could see Draco looking at her from the corner of her eye.

“Remember that, do you?”, she asked making the first right on the floor.

“I still have nightmares about it.”

“Dreaming about me, Malfoy?”

“You wish, Granger.”

“While we’re on the topic of last names”, she began. “You also call me by mine, so I don’t get why you're complaining.”

Draco clasped his hands behind him and shook his head slightly. “You don’t want me to call you by your first name, Granger.”

“And why is that?”

“Because.”

Their footsteps echoed while Hermione waited for him to continue.

When he didn’t, she asked, “Because of what?”

“Because you’ll fall in love with me”, he said with a serious face but playful tone.

Hermione laughed audibly at his comment. This, she could handle. This, she could enjoy. This was their safe spot.

“And I just can’t have another girl fawning over me. I’m swamped as it is.”

“Do you _really_ think you’re that charming? That you’re that irresistible?”

“Are you saying that I’m not?”

“You’re so full of yourself”, she replied shaking her head.

He raised his blonde eyebrows at her.

Hermione squinted her eyes at him. “I’m not going to inflate your ego any further than it already is. Your head is barely small enough to fit through the doorways as it is.”

“So, you do find me irresistible?”

“We have to finish rounds”, she stated, making wide strides as she walked away.

“Hold on!”

Hermione turned to see Draco jog slightly to catch up.

“I don’t understand how you have so many girls falling over you”, she started, trying to sound convincing. “You’re so annoying.”

“Well, that’s because I’ve not used my charm on you.”

“Oh, is that so?”, she asked him rolling her eyes.

“Yes. But you couldn’t handle it so…”, he let the end trail off.

“You think I can’t handle you?”

“Oh, I know you can’t handle me, Granger.”

Hermione stopped in the hallway. She knew they’d never finish rounds at this rate but was interested in this challenge.

“Let’s see it then.”

“Very funny.”

“No, I’m serious. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

He walked closer to her. So close that she had to tip her head up to look into his eyes.

“Are you sure you about this?”

“I want to see if you’re all talk.”

Draco took another step forward as she felt her back press against the wall. He was so close that if Hermione took a deep breath, her chest would touch his.

“Are you going to-“

“Don’t overthink it”, he interrupted.

Draco reached out, sliding his fingers across her forehead and behind her ear. Just as he did in the library. His eyes following his hand through the motions before looking at her. She couldn’t handle the intensity of his stare, so she focused on his mouth instead.

His soft lips lifted slightly to one side. A smile? A smirk? She didn’t know.

“Just be in the moment”, he told her softly.

His hand came to cup her left cheek and it took everything in her not to lean into it. She licked her lips, suddenly feeling dehydrated. Her face was lifted slightly as his hand slid under her chin. She felt his thumb gently trace her bottom lip.

Hermione let out a shaky breath. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

“Beautiful”, he whispered.

“What is?”

“Your eyes.”

“They’re just brown.”

“They aren’t _just_ brown.”

Hermione looked up, her eyes meeting his.

“What else are they?”, she asked him.

Draco was about to answer when his attention pulled to the end of the hall. “Did you hear that?”

“Huh?” Hermione looked in the same direction. “No, I didn’t.”

“I heard glass shatter.”

Hermione took a deep breath and mentally shook off the fog. “Let’s go check it out.”

The pair walked down to the door. The closer they got, the more Hermione could hear voices and movement coming from the room.

Draco entered the room first, causing something to drop and shatter on the floor. Hermione walked in to see three students, looking about 14 to 15 years old, standing behind a table covered in mess.

“What’s going on here ladies?”, Draco asked.

“Uh, we…”

“So, um…”

“Well, the thing is that… Um.”

None of them finished.

“Well?” Hermione asked. “Someone needs to say something.”

One of the students, a Hufflepuff, speaks up. “We were just working on an assignment.”

“I’m going to need to see the pass from your professor that shows that”, Hermione informed them.

The three girls looked at each other, slightly panicked. The Ravenclaw student stepped forward.

“It’s not for a class, it’s for us.”

“And what exactly are you doing?”, Draco asked her.

“Baking… sort of.”

“Baking what?”

“Just chocolates”, the final student, a Gryffindor, stated.

Hemione and Draco looked at each other.

“Ooookay”, Hermione replied. “Well, you three need to clean this up. And give the chocolates here”, she told the Ravenclaw, reaching out towards them.

The Ravenclaw reluctantly gave the bag to Hermione, before standing again with her friends. The other two gave her a look the student shrugged back.

“I’m going to need to take all three of your names and you’ll be docked ten points each for this”, Draco told them.

The trio grumbled.

“Do you want to make it twenty?”, Hermione asked them.

“No!”, they replied in unison.

“Okay then. Two of you help me clean, and one, stay with the Head Boy to give all the names.”

It didn’t take long before the room was cleaned and all the equipment the girls had were packed away. Everyone exited the room and the three students started to make their way to their respected common rooms.

Julie, the Hufflepuff, backtracked to Hermione and Draco. “Are you sure we can’t just have the chocolates?”

“We’re not rewarding bad behaviour. I’m sorry.”

“Okay, fine”, she sighed in defeat. “Just toss them.”

The pair watched the last of the trio walk away before making their way down the halls.

“That was a bit more excitement than I was planning for this evening”, Draco stated as they made their way down the hallway.

“Yeah”, Hermione responded, thinking back through their night.

“Do you think we can just call it early? There can’t be much else going on in the castle.”

“Party down in the dungeons tonight?”

Draco smiled at her. “Why, do you want to come?”

“No, better not. Don’t want to kill the mood.”

“No one would say anything to you if you’re with me.”

Hermione elbowed Draco lightly on the arm. “Yeah, yeah. Big and bad Slytherin Prince.”

“If I’m the Slytherin Prince, you’re the Gryffindor Princess.”

“Doubtful”, she laughed off.

“There are a few of us hanging out tonight if you did want to come. But I’m honestly just really tired from practice.”

Hermione looked over at him and he did look worn out. “No no, you go sleep or drink or whatever. Can I have the paper with the names on it?”

“Why?”

“I’m going back to my room if you are. I’ll write up the report and file it later.”

Draco pulled the slip of paper out of his pants pocket. He reached out to give the paper to Hermione but grabbed her hand instead, the paper between them. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

He started to swing their hands a little, making Hermione laugh.

“Gone on! Go get some sleep.”

“You’re the best, Granger”, he told her.

His hand slid out of hers, and he turned to walk away.

Hermione made her walked to the opposite way, paper in one hand and chocolates in the other.

She didn’t realise how tired she was until she got to her room. Sometimes she missed sharing a room with the other ladies in her year but it was times like this where Hermione enjoyed her alone time.

She sat on her bed, next to a sleeping Crookshanks and looked at the paper and chocolates sitting on her desk. Looking at the time, she decided to deal with this tomorrow in the Head’s office.

Hermione stood from her bed, placing the items in her bag.

After changing into her pyjamas and securing her satin bonnet, Hermione climbed into her bed. She reached for the book sitting on her bedside table and fluffed the pillows behind her.

She spent the next hour getting lost in the fiction novel before calling it a night. 

**The following week…**

This week had been so busy for Hermione and she was glad that this one was almost over. Instead of her second night rounds this Thursday, she had the meeting with Prefects for final preparations for the dance as well as their biweekly update.

She was in the middle of setting up drinks when the door behind her opened. She turned to see Draco coming in.

“Where is everyone?”, he asked looking around the room.

“They’ll be here soon.”

Draco looked down at his watch. “I thought you said it started at half-past seven?”

“Yeah, I did tell _you_ that but the meeting starts at 8. And it’s-“, she paused looking down at her own. “-7:47. I knew you’d run late if I told you the right time.” She turned back to the table to finish setting up.

“Well, thanks I guess. But I had to skip dessert tonight to make it here.”

“Did you have to, or did you just not make it to dinner on time?”

“I had practice again”, he told her with a shrug. “If you stopped scheduling things on evenings I have practice, I’d be on time.”

“You’re the only one with random practices. Susanna and Veronica have choir on the same night, every week. Same with Alex and Gavin, with their study group. We have to adjust for the Prefects, we’re-“

“Head Boy and Head Girl. Yes, blah blah. But I’m still hungry. Are you setting out food too?”

“No, just drinks. Let me see if I have anything in my bag.”

Hermione walked over to her chair at the front table and Draco walked over to the table for a drink. She usually kept a fruit bar or some other Muggle snack in her bag in case she got hungry during the day. She kept digging until she found a bag she didn’t recognize.

Pulling it out and opening it, she saw a dozen or so heart-shaped chocolates inside.

“Fuck”, she said to herself.

“No snacks?”

“Not that.” Hermione leaned her head up and sighed. “I forgot to do that report. I’ve been busy with classes and getting stuff straight with the dance, some of the Prefects have been slacking off on rounds. I’ve had these chocolates in my bag for well over a week.”

“I thought you were going to do it when you got back?”

“I was but I just wanted to relax. I put them in my bag but I don’t check this front part on the inside that often. I put it there without realising. Out of sight, out of mind.”

“Well, don’t worry about the report then”, he said walking over to her. “It was just 10 points, so no big deal.”

“I guess I can let it pass this once.”

“You need to start telling me about some of these things. You know I’ll get the Prefects in line, you’re too nice.”

“I know. I take on too much and I need to delegate more. I’m just so used to taking on a majority of a workload so, yeah.”

“I’m not Potter or Weasley so come to me with work stuff like you’re supposed to anyway, and we’ll handle it together.”

“Okay, I will.”

“Promise?”

Hermione nodded. “I promise.”

“What are you going to do with the chocolates?”

Hermione shrugged. “You can have it.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure. My gift to you. Happy early birthday or whatever.” Hermione reached out to hand him the bag.

Draco placed his hand under it. “For me, Granger? Oh, you shouldn’t have! How thoughtful!”

Hermione pulled the chocolates closer to her. “Are you going to take my gift to satisfy your sweet tooth or are you going to poke fun?”

“I want it!”

She laughed and handed him the bag.

“Thank you for my present, Miss Granger.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and took her seat. “You’re welcome, Mister Malfoy.”

“Eh, yeah. Let’s not do that again. Sounds like you’re talking to my father.”

Draco sat down next to Hermione and reviewed the itinerary they needed to go over for the meeting.

“Did you want any?”

“No. Dentist parents and all? I’ve had my limit of sweets for the day.”

Draco shrugged, taking a chocolate heart out of the bag and popped one in his mouth.

“How is it?”, she asked him.

“There’s a hint of something there but it’s faint. Like orange or something?” Draco grabbed a few more to eat. “It’s good though.”

Hermione flipped through her notebook. “If you like those, I can see if my parents can send over a chocolate orange for you. I think you’d like that. They love hearing about my friends’ reaction to Muggle food”, she chuckled lightly.

When he didn’t respond, Hermione looked over at him. Only to find him staring at her.

“What? Do I have ink on my face?”, she asked quickly as she rushed to rub her face.

“No, no ink. You’re perfect.”

Hermione squinted at him. “You’re so weird.”

Draco smiled softly at her.

Before she could ask him another question, the Prefects started to file in.

“Hey everyone! Come on in. Grab a drink, and get settled we have a lot to go over before the dance this Saturday”, Hermione called out to them. “After everyone gets here, you all are going to pretty much do all the talking and we’ll be here taking notes of any changes.”

The students all settled in. After the last of the Prefects arrived, each pair of Prefects from each house started presenting their assignments. First up were the Ravenclaw Prefects, in charge of decorations.

Hermione stayed focused on their presentation, referring back to the notes she had, and wrote down any changes. She noticed that Draco had barely moved next to her. Looking up from her notes, she noticed that he was smiling at her.

Just smiling.

“What’s going on with you?”, she whispered to him.

“Do you want to study after this? In our spot?”, he asked her completely ignoring her question.

“Yeah, sure. But only for an hour or so, nothing too late.”

“Good.”

“Good. Now, will you pay attention to the Prefects, please?”

Draco sat up straighter and looked forward to the students in front of them. Hermione started taking notes again as the Slytherin pair started going over the music they had prepared for the evening.

Hermione heard the chair next to her move. She watched as Draco went over to the table with the drinks, and poured two glasses of water. He walked back over with both, placing one in front of her.

She turned to see that he sat closer to her this time. So close, she could feel the warmth radiating from him.

Draco didn’t say anything, just looked forward and nodded in agreement with whatever was just said.

Hermione leaned over and whispered, “Thank you”, before she took a sip.

He leaned back and whisper, “You’re welcome.”

The rest of the meeting went on without too much of a fuss. A few things needed to be changed here and there but all of the major things had been approved and completed. Hermione gave Thomas, a sixth-year Hufflepuff she trusted dearly, the final list to send off to Dumbledore.

“Are you sure you can do this for me, Thomas? I know it’s out of your way.”

“I can handle it, Hermione. You know I can.”

“I know, I know. You’ll make a great Head Boy next year.”

“You think I could be Head Boy?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Thanks. I appreciate the vote of confidence. See you later!”

Hermione waved goodbye to the departing student. She turned back into the room to see Draco had already packed up the room while she was chatting away with the students.

“Thanks for getting that all done, Malfoy.”

“I’m here for you, you know that.”

Hermione looked at Draco with a questioning look. “Are you sure you’re okay? Are you running a fever or something?”

She walked over to him and placed the back of her hand on his forehead.

“You don’t feel warm.”

Before she could remove her hand from his head, Draco grabbed it and moved it off. Slowly lacing his fingers through hers.

“I’m perfectly healthy. I feel brilliant, better than I have in a long time.”

“That’s good. I’m happy for you. Is it just an overall good feeling or are you up to something?”

“I’m not up to anything.”

“Has another girl fallen over you today? Has the great Malfoy added another poor soul to his list?”, she half-joked.

“No more list”, he told her.

“Really? Has the Slytherin Prince found his Princess?”

“Something like that.”

Hermione slowly pulled her hand from his. She didn’t think he had seriously found someone. Draco Malfoy wasn’t the guy to settle. He flirted, hard. And he liked all of the attention he got. _At least, I thought he did_ , she told herself.

“Well, I bet she won’t like me holding hands with you. And I’m not duelling a witch over you”, she teased. 

Draco didn’t say anything in response, he just looked at Hermione.

“Is your new girl going to be okay with us studying tonight?” _That’s right Hermione, just keep joking about it and it won’t sting._

“Yeah, I think she’d be cool with it.

“Okay, then let’s go.” Hermione grabbed her bag off the back of her chair, and they made their way to the library.

After settling into their usual spot, with a few books in hand they picked up on the way, the pair started working.

 _This is great, this is normal,_ Hermione thought to herself with a book open in front of her. _Just get through the next hour and I can cuddle up with Crookshanks. Maybe even read my book for a while. That’ll probably be my weekend, anyway. No Hogsmeade on Saturday, just a little R &R in my room. Alone. With my cat. Then get ready for the dance where I’ll just… Stand with the professors for a couple of hours and supervise. Maybe fill up my handbag with some of the sweets. It’s the weekend, I can indulge a little._

“What are you thinking about?"

His voice startled her. She forgot he was her and where she was, as she got lost in her thoughts.

“Nothing, just reading”, she replied as she tried to start reading.

“No, you’re not. That’s not you’re ‘focused reading’ face. You’ve been biting your bottom lip, that’s your ‘overthinking’ face.”

Hermione moved her eye from her book to him. “You seem to be hyper-aware of me today.”

“Is that a question or a statement?”

“An observation.” Hermione closed the book. “What’s going on with you?”

She watched as Draco popped another chocolate.

“How many of those have you had?”, she asked him.

Draco shrugged, swallowing the chocolate. “Not sure. I’ve got a real craving tonight, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“They must be good.”

“I’m going to ask you something.”

“If it’s about the assignment, I’m honestly lost too.” Hermione opened the book again, determined to start studying.

“It’s not. It’s something else.”

Hermione closed the book at the sound of Draco’s serious tone. When she met his eye, she saw it reflected on his face.

“I’m all ears.”

“I’d like total honesty from you. Can you do that for me?”

“I can.”

Draco placed both of his hands on the table, folded in front of him with his thumbs tapping to a rhythm.

“Are you still hung up on Weasley?”

Hermione sigh. “Malfoy, I’ve told you I don’t want to talk about that.”

“I just need a yes or no.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it for me.”

Hermione shifted in her seat. She wasn’t used to Draco being this forward with her. In public, they kept their distance for show. Never really around each other more than needed for classes and Prefect or Head duties. Alone, they had snappy clapbacks and light jokes. Maybe a playful push here and there, between friends.

Nothing like this. Nothing so serious.

Hermione sat up straighter and mirror his posture. He noticed this and smirked lightly.

“What do you want to know?”, she started.

“If you still have feelings for Wesley or not.”

“Yes and no.”

“Can you elaborate?”

Hermione dug through her mind trying to figure out how to put her feelings for Ron into words. “No, I don’t have romantic feelings for him. But yes, I still care about him because we’ve been friends for so long.”

“That’s not complicated at all.”

Hermione scoffed. “Yeah, well you’re not living it. Are we done now? Can we go back to studying?”

“I have a few more questions if that’s okay?”

Hermione gestured for him to continue.

“Are you interested in anyone right now?”

She hesitated slightly. “Not particularly.”

“Is that the truth?”

“Perhaps.”

Draco tilted his head to the side, trying to read Hermione.

“Are you going to use Legilimency on me now?”

“No, I wouldn’t do that. It’s invasive and I wouldn’t do it without your permission.”

“Appreciate it.”

“I don’t need it anyway”, he shrugged.

“And why is that?”

“Because your Poker face is shit.”

“And you know about Poker, how?”, she laughed.

“Sometimes Muggles invent interesting things.”

“Fair enough. Are we done now Malfoy?”

“One more question.”

Hermione felt doubtful. “One more?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let me hear it.”

Draco leaned forward causing Hermione to lean back slightly.

“How do you feel about me?”

“Seriously Malfoy?”

He raised his eyebrows in response.

“We’re friends, I like you. I’d have to like you to put up with you”, she laughed.

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

“What are you asking then?”

“I’m asking if you feel something, else. Something more.”

Hermione looked into his eyes and understood what he was asking. The humour she had a moment ago fell from her face.

“That isn’t funny.”

“Am I laughing?”

“Why are you doing this, Malfoy?”

“I need to know.”

She could hear her heart pumping in her ears. Her chest was heavy. He stayed there, waiting across from her for her response.

Hermione shook her head to clear it. Unsure about what to say or do, Hermione collected the books from the table and walked towards the aisle to return them.

“Where are you going?”, he asked behind her.

Hermione kept walking away. She heard him follow her. She made it to one of the sections and let the book go about a third the way down the aisle. She watched as it floated up to the top.

“Are you upset with me?”

Hermione placed the remaining books down and looked at him.

“I’m not upset. I’m just not playing this game with you Malfoy.”

“I’m not playing anything.”

Hermione waited. And she waited.

For the punchline.

For the smirk.

For any sign that this was just Malfoy being Malfoy. Him just trying to inflate his ego so he can walk around on that high.

But she never saw it. His eyes were sincere, his words held truth.

“You really want to know?”, she questioned.

“Yes.”

“All cards on the table?”

“Yes.”

“And our friendship is good, no matter my answer?”

“Of course.”

Hermione paused for a heartbeat. She could lie. He wouldn’t know if she did and they could just pretend he never asked her this. Or…

“Yes, I have feelings for you.”

“More than friends?”

“Yes, more than friends.”

Draco smiled brightly at her. He reached out to grab her hand, but she backed away.

“That doesn’t change anything.”

His smile fell.

She grabbed the remaining books and made her way over to the next aisle.

“What do you mean it doesn’t change anything?”, he asked behind her.

“I mean that it doesn’t change anything. I’m still Granger and you’re still Malfoy.”

“Woah, hold up. Can you put the books down for a second?”

Hermione let another book float from her hand and she put the remaining two down on the table.

“Why doesn’t it change anything?”, he asked her.

“We’re too different.-”

“Well, that’s a lie.”

“It wouldn’t work.-”

“Just again, with the lies.”

Hermione took a deep breath. “What would your father think?”

Draco opened his mouth to respond but Hermione continued.

“Or your friends? Or my friends? Or all the eligible Pureblood women, one of whom you’ll be married to in a few years?”

Draco tried to respond but she kept going.

“You’ve told me about the contracts your parents will set up. Have you just forgotten about that?” Hermione knew she was rambling at this point but she couldn’t stop. “What are they going to think if word got around that we’re as close as we are? Let alone, if something started here romantically?”

Draco walked up to Hermione, backing her against the edge of the table behind her. He cupped her face with his hands and tilted her face up to his, staring deep into her eyes.

“Listen to me very clearly.” He paused, making sure he had her attention. “I don’t give a _fuck_ about what other people think. I’m talking about you and me.”

Hermione tried to speak but he continued.

“I’m talking about what we want, right now, at this moment.”

“You think it’s that simple?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“But it’s not though”, she said softly. “Maybe in your world, where everything is served to you on a silver platter, but not in mine. Nothing about us having feeling for each other is simple.”

Draco pressed his forehead gently to hers. He closed his eyes and whispered, “Let me show you.”

“Show me what?”

“How happy I could make you.”

Hermione closed her eyes at his words. This was too much, too fast. She didn’t know what to say to him.

The two stood there for a moment before felt a shift in his stance. His lips were getting closer to hers. So close, it took everything in her not to tilt ever so slightly and close the distance. Panicked, Hermione turned her head away from him and his lips landed on her cheek.

Hermione let out a short breath.

“This is a lot.”

Draco pulled away, still cupping her face with one hand. His thumb sliding across her cheek.

“I’m so sorry about that. I needed to know but that wasn’t fair to you.”

Hermione placed one hand against the one resting on her face.

“I’m glad we got this out on the table though.”

“Me too.”

“And now we’ll just go back to how things were, right?”

Draco didn’t respond.

“You said this wouldn’t change our friendship”, she reminded him.

“That was when I thought this was one-sided.”

“Malfoy.”

“Finish putting the books back. I’ll meet you back at the table, it’s getting late.”

Draco turned away without another word and Hermione walk through the remaining sections need to return the books.

When she arrived at their table, her bag was packed and Draco had it in his hand.

“May I walk you to your dorm tonight?”

She took her bag from him and slung it over her shoulder. “I don’t know. I’m just-.”

“I understand.”

Hermione groaned internally. He sounded completely defeated and she couldn’t take it. When they made it to the library exit, she gave him a definite answer.

“Okay, yes. You can walk me to my dorm.”

They made their way through the halls, occasionally running into a student that smiled or nodded in there direction.

When they made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione turned to Draco.

“See how easy that was?”, he asked her.

“How easy what was?”

“Us, together. Walking around the castle.”

“We always walk around the castle. We just weren’t doing rounds time.”

Draco shook his head at her comment. “Why are you making this so much harder than it needs to be?”

“I’m being realistic. This isn’t some fairy tale, it’s real life. You get that, right?”

“I do.”

“We’re graduating soon. We have to figure out what we’re doing outside of these walls.”

“I get it, I do.”

“I don’t think you do”, she insisted.

Draco grabbed Hermione’s hands. “Hey? Breathe.”

Hermione inhaled and exhaled.

“Where is all this coming from? Why now? Why me?”

“Why are you questioning everything? Why can’t you just let this happen?”

“Because it has to be questioned. Besides, I don’t want to get hurt from all of-”, she gestured at him “-whatever this is.”

Draco stepped closer into her space. Now that her thoughts were running less wild, she could feel herself getting wrapped in the scent of his cologne.

He squeezed her hands softly, reassuring her. “I will never hurt you. And I’ll be damned if I let anyone else.”

Hermione took in a shaky breath.

“All I need is a chance to show you”, he finished.

Hermione could see the truth in his eyes. She knew he meant it, but she was still hesitant.

“Hermione!”, a pair of voices said in unison.

She turned to see Harry and Ron coming down the stairs to the portrait. She moved her hands out of Draco and step slightly away from him.

“Hey, guys. Where are you coming from?”

“We were down at the Hufflepuff common room”, Harry told her.

“Yeah, one of the sixth years was supposed to be pretty good at Wizard’s Chess but it was an easy win”, Ron added on.

“That’s great Ron, congratulations.”

“Thanks”, Ron smiled at her.

“Is uh, everything good here Hermione?”, Harry asked her.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just having a chat with Malfoy.”

The pair looked to the side of her and the three all greeted themselves.

“Malfoy.”

“Potter.”

“Malfoy.”

“Weasley.”

Hermione looked between the three of them with discomfort. “Well, that’s enough stimulating conversation for one night, boys. Don’t want to wear yourselves out. Harry, Ron? I’ll see you inside, okay?”

“I think we should wait out here for you”, Ron insisted.

“I’m fine on my own, Ron. Thank you.”

Hermione felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to Draco beside her, seeing him cock his head to the side.

The two walked a yeard or so away before Hermione spoke again. “I can’t talk about this anymore Malfoy. It’s just-”

“I know. No more talking. Can you just promise to think about what I said tonight?”

“I will. Goodnight Malfoy.”

Draco stepped closer to her and leaned forward. Her heart began to race again and her body froze. _Is he going to-_

His lips touched her right cheek, so close to the corner of her mouth.

He whispered affectionately in her ear, “Goodnight… Hermione.”

Her breath hitched. Her name sounded like velvet coming from him. It rolled off of his tongue as if he said it a thousand times before.

She watched as he walked away from her while she fought internally with herself.

A part of her felt something was wrong. This is fast and unlike the Draco she had come to know over the past few years.

Another part of her felt something deep within that she hadn’t felt before. She wanted to call him back, to have him say her name again. To have him move his mouth just a few inches over so she could feel his soft lips against hers.

**…Friday morning…**

Hermione snuck down the stairs to the common room. As she peeked her head around the corner, she let out a breath of relief. Empty.

She continued down the remaining stairs, making her way out the common room and off to the Great Hall for breakfast.

After barely escaping Harry and Ron last night, Hermione stalled best she could this morning. With just enough time to eat breakfast, but not enough to be grilled. She decided it was best to work smart, not hard in this situation.

As she entered the Great Hall, Hermione took notice that several students were looking towards the Gryffindor table. She made her way down the aisle, waving good morning to Ginny and Parvarti, both of whom had curious looks on their faces.

Confused, Hermione continued down seeing Harry and Ron sitting next to each other in whispers. A few spaces over from Harry was Draco.

Sitting casually at the Gryffindor table.

Eating an apple.

Harry stood in front of her, blocking her from going to him. “Hermione, what is going on? First last night, now this?”

“Nothing’s going on.”

“Would you even tell me if there were?”

Hermione reached out, giving Harry’s shoulder a light squeeze. “Of course I would, Harry. You’re my best friend. I tell you everything.” _Almost everything_ , she thought to herself.

Harry adjusted his glasses. “Alright, if you say so. Just be careful, I don’t trust him.” With his final sentence, he sat down and went back to his breakfast.

Hermione sat down, leaving some space in between Draco and herself. He smiled over at her as she did.

“Good morning.”

“Um, good morning Malfoy.”

He bit into the last of his apple, leaving the core on the small plate in front of him.

“So, what are you doing over here?”, she asked as she started making herself a plate.

“I brought you something.”

“What do you mean?”

Draco pulled a box, about the size of her hand, out from his cloak and placed it on the table.

“What’s that?”

“You need to open it.”

“Jewellery isn’t going to sway me to agree to anything.”

“I know that, that’s why it’s not jewellery.”

Hermione hesitated but still reached for the box. Opening it, she tipped the box over in her hand.

“You got me a toy mouse?”, she asked as she held it in her hands.

Draco slid closer to her, reaching inside the box and pulled out a small card to show her. “If you say this spell with this wand movement, it’ll activate the mouse. It’ll run around and squeak, and the spell lasts for hours.”

She smiled at the toy. “You got it for Crookshanks?”

“Yeah, do you think he’ll like it?”

Hermione placed the items back in the box and reached out to his hand. “He’ll love it, thank you.”

“You’re most welcome.”

Hermione pressed a thumb to her palm, her nerves getting the better of her. “Malfoy, about last night-“

“I meant what I said”, he interrupted. “This could work. It _will_ work. You just need to give me a chance to show you.”

“I just think-“

“Don’t make a decision yet”, he insisted. “I’m going to go. Mainly so you can enjoy your breakfast but also because I can feel my friends burning holes into my head with their eyes.”

Hermione turned to see that he was right. Blaise, Pansy, and Theo were all staring at the two of them. Blaise with curiosity, Pansy with shock, and-

“I, wait- Is Theo… laughing?”, Hermione stammered.

Draco briefly looked over to his friends and laughed as he shook his head. “I’m going to go before I cause more snakes to come into the lion’s den.”

Hermione pulled her attention back to him.

“I’d like to sit with you in class later if that’s alright?”

She thought about it for a moment. _It was just one class. Innocent enough._

Hermione nodded. “Yeah, we can do that.”

Draco smiled at her softly. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you later.” He reached for another apple, rose from his seat, and made his way over to the Slytherin table.

Audible gasps echoed around her as Hermione registered what he just did, in front of the entire Great Hall.

Shaking off the shock, Hermione focused on eating her breakfast.

“Um, Mione. What was that?”, she heard Ron ask.

Hermione’s eye almost twitched at the nickname.

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

“No, but seriously Hermione. We need you to tell us what’s going on.”, Harry told her.

Hermione ignored her friends before she felt a new presence next to her.

“You both need to mind your business and stop riding her case”, Ginny stated sternly.

Hermione smiled at her closest girlfriend in thanks.

“But Gin-“, Ron started.

“No, stop it! I mean it. Let the woman eat.”

Silence followed and Hermione leaned over to Ginny.

“Thank you”, she whispered.

“Oh, of course. But you know I want all the details later?”

Hermione chuckled. “You got it.”

“I do have one question though.”

“Ask away”, she replied biting into her toast.

“How long have you two…”

Hermione shrugged in misunderstanding.

“Ya know?”, she continued.

“There is no ‘ya know’, Ginny.”

“I knew you liked him”, Ginny told her factually.

“How? I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Last year, Ravenclaw sixth year girls dorm for Padma and Parvarti’s birthday. We played ‘Fuck, Marry, Kill’ for the hottest guys in each house.”

“That’s not proof though, that was just a game. One where you named Blaise as-”

The bell chimed, alerting the students it was time for their first class of the day.

“Aht, none of that. And it’s proof enough. I’ll see you later.”

“Byeee Giiiin”, she called out to the fleet form.

She watched as Ginny caught up with Harry and kissed him on the cheek, disappearing into the crowd of students.

Hermione grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl in front of her for later and made her way to her first class.

*~*

After spending the morning and the first half of lunch dodging questions about her and Draco, some from people she didn’t even know, Hermione was hesitant about her next class, History of Magic. She walked the hallways with her eyes forward, avoiding making eye contact with anyone until she arrived at the classroom door. As other students were filing into the room to take their seats, Draco was leaning against the wall.

He smiled brightly at her, causing Hermione to do the same.

“Have you been waiting for me?”

“Just wanted to make sure I was here in case you forgot.”

“I didn’t forget”, she said, laughing softly.

“Are you ready for the most exciting class on our schedule?”, he asked her sarcastically.

“Oh, I’m overjoyed.”

The pair walked into the classroom and Hermione made her way to the front. She felt a hand on her wrist stop her from moving forward. She looked behind her at Draco nodding to a table they just passed.

“Let’s sit in the back”, he told her.

“I never sit in the back.”

“Yeah, I know”, he chuckled. “So live a little. Come to the dark side with me, Hermione.”

Hermione quickly debated with herself before giving in. “Let’s do it.”

She settled in at the seat farthest to the corner. Pulling out her book, notebook, quill, and ink as Draco did the same.

Professor Binns floated into the room a few minutes later.

“Good afternoon, everyone”, he greeted, voice monotoned and drawn.

A response of mumbles could be heard from the students collected there.

“Today, I’ll be continuing my discussion on Emeric the Evil.” The professor paused for a few seconds before starting again. “Now, many people think that Emeric was bad news but I remember seeing a painting of him with a jellyfish for a hat. A man like that can’t be all evil, then can he?”

The professor droned on and Hermione bit back an annoying groan.

“Wasn’t that painting about Uric the Oddball?”, Hermione asked Draco.

“Yeah, it was. You’d think he’d get this straight by now”, he responded as he closed his notebook and capped his ink.

“I can’t believe he’s still got more to say”, he continued, slightly annoyed.

Hermione followed suit, half packing her items away. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“We all took this for the easy O and a good nap.”

Hermione covered her mouth, trying not the let the giggle escape. “That’s not nice.”

“Maybe so, but it’s true.”

“Well, I guess we better settle in. We’ve got another 85 minutes of this.”

Hermione heard Draco shuffle around his bag and watched as he popped a chocolate in his mouth before settling in.

“Are you still eating those?”

Draco shrugged. “I like them. They’re good for me.”

“That much chocolate isn’t good for anyone.”

“I beg to differ.”

Hermione shook her head at his comment. She slouched slightly in her chair, stretching her legs out in front of her. She wasn’t one to sleep in class, no matter how boring, but she was going to at least get comfortable and take advantage of not being at the front table.

Draco shift next to her, moving his seat closer until their legs were touching. A weight pressed against her. Startled, Hermione leaned forward a bit turning to see Draco’s arm draped across the back of her chair. Looking at Draco, she saw that he was facing forward as if he was paying attention to the lecture.

“Is this okay?”, he asked her in a hushed tone.

Just as she was about to question this all entire thing, she thought back to this morning. He knew she wouldn’t be impressed with a bracelet full of diamonds or a dramatic grand gesture. Hermione didn’t want to argue with herself or Draco anymore. She wanted to be close to him for so long and now that she had the opportunity, she didn’t want to fight against it.

Deciding to enjoy this moment, Hermione settled back in her chair. She angled her body slightly closer to him and went back to “listening” to the lecture.

Not fully aware of how much time had passed, Hermione was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt something tickling her shoulder. She looked down, out of the corner of her eye, watching Draco’s middle finger move up and down the outside of her shoulder.

Hermione bit her bottom lip, trying to hide her smile.

Draco’s hand moved slowly from her shoulder, behind her hair, and over to her neck. Once there, he slid up to her hairline and started to massage her.

Hermione quickly looked around the classroom.

“No one’s watching us. I promise.”

Hermione leaned back in her seat again and Draco continued.

She felt her body start to relaxed as he massaged her in a steady, circular motion. Slowly and with the perfect amount of pressure.

Hermione’s hands fell to her lap as she tipped her slightly to the ceiling. Her lip parted as the stress of the day rolled off her body.

Draco’s hand slid up into her curls and back down again, to the base of her neck, before going back to her shoulder.

Hermione let her head fall onto Draco’s shoulder as Draco pulled his hand away, moving it back to her shoulder.

“Why did you stop?”, she asked him.

She felt his cheek pressed against the top of her head. “I don’t want to be _the_ Hermione Granger falls asleep in class.”

They sat like this for a while longer before Hermione deciding not to press their luck. Sitting up, Hermione folded her hands on the desk and tried to figure out where the professor was in his drawn-out story.

Hermione felt Draco place his hand on top of hers. He slowly slid them off the table onto the space were their legs touched. She let one hand go, allowing him to lace their fingers together. She felt her hand move farther away, stopping on top of Draco’s thigh.

He flipped her palm up and gently played with the palm of her hand, tickling her softly.

“Stop”, she told him trying not to laugh.

“It’s making you laugh though.”

“That’s why you need to stop, someone will notice.”

Draco laughed softly. “Okay, that’s that fine.”

“Just hold my hand. I like that.”

“Anything you want, it’s yours.”

Draco reached out and held Hermione’s hand. She pulled it over to her lap and enclosed her hands around his.

And that’s how they stayed for the remainder of the class.

**…Later that night…**

Hermione waited as long as she could for him. He had never been this late before. She had to get started on rounds alone now or it would be pushing midnight before they were done with their assigned floors. If he even showed

Being alone again with her thoughts was too much for Hermione at the moment. Taking in how intense the past day had been, the questions and doubt started pouring out of her again. _Is he having second thoughts? Is he realising I was right, that this won’t work?_ She thought she had come to accept that this could work but now, without him here, all she could do was question it.

The worst thing that could happen from all of this is the ruined friendship that would come after. Was a secret friendship the most ideal kind of friendship to have? No, but being alone with Draco all this time allowed Hermione to have something she hadn’t experienced before. The depth of their conversations went to the core of the Earth most nights. Losing track of time as the conversations went on for hours until the sun rose at the Quidditch pitch or through the windows of a tower.

Hermione didn’t know how their friendship would continue after they left Hogwarts but she wanted to make the most of it while she could. So if she had to pretend like this all never happened, she would. She’d take things as they once were if it meant they had more time.

“Granger!”

The sound of her name echoing the hall pulled her out of her thoughts.

She turned to see Draco running over to her. She stopped so he could catch up and when he finally did, she saw the slight panic behind his eyes.

“I’m sorry for being late”, he panted.

“I had to get started without you.”

“I know”, he took a deep breath to collect himself. “I’ve been running through the past couple of floors looking for you.”

Hermione looked down at her watch. “It’s 42 minutes from when we were meant to start so…” She let her sentence trail off with a shrug.

“I’m sorry.”

“Whatever, let’s just- Let’s just finish rounds.” Hermione began walking and Draco trailed beside her. “Why are you so late, anyway? You’ve never left me waiting this long before.”

“I got… caught up in something”, he said with hesitation.

“Caught up in something? Mysterious.”

Draco scratched the base of his neck, shrugging with one shoulder. “Yeah, and I lost track of time.”

“Did you get it all done?”

“I wish, but no”, he said with a sigh.

Neither said anything for a while, they just walked down the halls.

Annoyed, Hermione had to say anything to break this silence.

“So…”, she started.

“So…”, he parroted.

“How was the rest of your day?”

“Well, you know. Pretty uneventful.”

“I didn’t see you at dinner.”

“I wasn’t hungry, still I was still caught up in my thing.”

“Your thing, right. Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

 _What the fuck is going on right now?!_ , she screamed to herself. The thoughts Hermione had earlier were yelling at her now, echoing in her mind, drowning her.

“You know-“ “So, I was-“, they said at the same time. 

Draco chuckled. “You go first.”

“So, I was thinking.”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe-” she stopped, wanting to word this right. “Maybe we just pretend like last night and today didn’t happen.”

“Why? Why would we do that?”

“I mean, nothing did happen.” Hermione received no response. “Right?”

Draco stopped and stared down at her. 

“We got some feelings out there”, she continued. “We flirted a bit or something. And that was it, yeah? We still haven’t crossed a line where we can’t go back to how it was. So we go back. Just Granger and Malfoy again. Just… friends.”

“Is that what you want?”

Hermione pressed her thumb against her palm, kneading it. “It’s what’s best.”

“That’s not what I asked you. I asked if that’s what you _want_.” 

Hermione paused for a moment, unable to make eye contact with him. “Yeah.” 

Draco took a step towards her. “Because we haven’t crossed a line.”

“Exactly”, she agreed, backing up.

“And if we were to cross the line?”, he asked, moving closer yet again.

Hermione felt her body hit a wall as she tried to keep the space between them. 

She looked up to him, having to lean back more and more as he entered her space. Hermione bit down on her bottom lip as her mind raced. Draco’s eyes darted quickly toward the movement before looking at her.

“Malfoy, if we crossed the line? I’m not sure if we can just go back to being friends again.”

Draco reached out to her, his palm gently pressed against her cheek. 

“I’d be okay with that, Hermione”, he whispered. “Would you?”

Was she okay with that? Was she able to let down the walls she built around them, around herself, to allow the two of them to shatter this glass house? Hermione wanted nothing more than to get lost in him, but could she let go of all her fears?

“I can hear the gears turning in your mind”, Draco teased. “Don’t think, just feel.”

Hermione nodded silently.

Draco tilted down to her and their lips touched. 

She could barely feel his lips at first. This was too gentle, too unsure. He wanted this, she wanted this. But she wanted more of him... All of him. 

She didn’t want a peck. 

She wanted a fucking kiss. 

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Hermione leaned her body into him. His lips melded over hers and she melted into him. She felt his firm hand grip her waist as her body was pulled against his. 

A gasp escaped from her at this movement, allowing his tongue to slide through her parted lips. The heat from his lips spread through her whole body. She wanted more. 

He pulled his face from hers. Hermione sighed frustration as Draco let out a shallow breath. 

“I, um-“, he stammered.

“Why did you stop?”

His eyes bounced back and forth between hers. A smile broke across his face before he kissed her again. 

His lips pressed against her firmly as he took control. She felt his body press against her, pushing her further into the wall as his hand explored more of her hips.

Hermione’s hands slid into his hair, gripping it firmly. Draco moaned deeply as Hermione tried to pull him closer.

Any questions Hermione had, any hesitations she felt about what was changing between them was washed away with this kiss.

He wanted her. She could feel it in the way his lips moved against hers. In the way, he reacted to her touch. 

And maybe this was enough. Maybe this was all she needed. If the rest of the world didn’t like it, they could go fuck themselves. This is what she wanted.

Breathless, Hermione turned away. Draco’s lips latched to the side of her neck, playfully biting on her neck.

She leaned gently into it before slightly backing away. “Draco, stop before you leave a mark.”

Draco nipped softly at her ear. “Say it again.”

“Say what?”

“My name,”, he sighed. Draco pulled away from her, looking deeply into her eyes. “I never want to hear you call me ‘Malfoy’ again.”

**…Saturday morning…**

Hermione was on Cloud Nine as she walked to the Great Hall for breakfast. She couldn’t stop smiling, thinking about last night. She finally kissed Draco and everything about it was perfect.

Hermione bumped into someone and a pair of hands held her upper arms. She looked up to see Draco’s charming smile.

“Good morning, gorgeous”, he told her, giving her a chaste kiss on the lips.

“Good morning, Draco”, she smiled back at him.

“Glad I caught you. I was hoping to talk to you about something.”

She grew tense at his words. “Speak with me about what?”

“I was wondering- And I know it’s last minute, so I apologise. But I was wondering if you’d accompany me to the dance tonight?”

Hermione let out a silent, calming breath as she relaxed. “That’s so sweet of you, Draco, but I can’t. I promised it’d be a girls night weeks ago.”

“I understand”, he said with a slight shrug. “It was a long shot. Breakfast?”, he asked, point back toward the Great Hall.

“Sure, let’s go.”

Draco reached out, taking Hermione’s hand in his.

“I can save you a few dances though”, she told him.

He leaned over and kissed her temple. “I’ll take it.”

The closer they got to the Great Hall, the more students there were.

The more eyes were on them.

The more whispers filled the halls.

Hermione kept her eyes forward, refusing to let the outside world get to her. When they entered the Great Hall, several students looked towards the couple. Some in interest, others in confusion. Hermione’s eyes landed on the table where her friends sat and saw anger from Harry and Ron.

Draco gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Hogsmeade today? Lunch?”

Hermione, still looking forward, nodded her head and took a deep breath. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

He tugged her hand slightly, pulling her attention to him.

“They’ll be upset at first, but if they’re truly your friends, they’ll just want you to be happy. Anyone who cares about you just wants you to be happy.”

Draco leaned down and kissed Hermione softly.

“Where should I meet you?”, he continued. “At the quad or…?”

“No, I have to walk down with Ginny. I’ve been avoiding her a bit. Maybe Three Broomsticks first and we’ll grab a Butterbeer?”

“You got it. Have a good breakfast and don’t be afraid to come over to the Slytherin table if you need me.”

Hermione rolled her eye. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’m serious. We don’t bite”, he said, leaving with a wink.

Hermione watched him walk towards the Slytherin tables, greeting his friends. They crowded around him as Draco tried to make himself a cup of tea.

She rolled her shoulders back slightly before going to the Gryffindor table. Hermione sat down next to Ginny, across from Harry and Ron, and where she was able to see Draco.

“Well that was quite the entrance”, Ginny started. When Hermione responded by grabbing some toast and marmalade, she continued. “Are we talking about this or are we pretending that this isn’t the second morning you two have been doing this?”

Hermione bit into her toast and chewed facing her friend, smiling slightly.

“Okay, then”, Ginny said going back to her porridge, as if she didn’t care.

“I’ll tell you.”

Ginny let out a dramatic sigh. “Oh, thank goodness.”

“Only if-“

Ginny scoffed.

“-Harry and Ron promise to be open-minded.”

“That can be done. Right boys?”, Ginny asked looking up at them.

Hermione followed suit, only to find Harry and Ron glaring at her.

“Please say something”, she begged them.

“I don’t like it, Hermione. I don’t trust him”, Harry started.

“I can understand that.”

“I just don’t get how this could have happened.”

“Just lots of time getting to know each other. Lots of growth on Draco’s side.”

“Oh, he’s Draco now, is he?” Ron questioned, venom spewed into his words.

Hermione held back a sigh and counted to five before answering him. “Yes, that’s what I’m calling him. You don’t have to.”

“How kind of you.” Ron stood up quickly, pushing his plate away from him. “I’ve lost my appetite, I’m leaving.”

Hermione watched her friend walk away. “What’s got his wand in a knot?”

Ginny leaned over to her, whispering. “He and Lavender are on the rocks again. I guess he was hoping… Just, don’t pay him any mind.” She leaned back, speaking loud enough for Harry to hear. “So! Tell us everything.”

Hermione didn’t go into too much detail, only just opening up about how close she and Draco had gotten as friends.

Now and then, Hermione would look pass Harry as she spoke and catch Draco’s eye.

He’d raise his brows in question, and she’d smile softly in response.

 _This will work_ _,_ she thought to herself. _A few bumps in the beginning but this isn’t anything they can’t handle._

*~*

Three Broomsticks was crowded when they arrived that afternoon, but it allowed the pair to sit close, whispering in each other’s ear. Hermione settled close to his body, his arm draped around her shoulders. They sat there under the glasses of Butterbeer and the plate of chips were empty. They walked hand in hand to Honeydukes before finally settling in at Tomes and Scrolls.

Hermione enjoyed the time she spent with Draco even more now. Moving forward with someone that understood her, that made her laugh. It was everything she wanted. Nothing changed between them, there was nothing awkward about this progression.

They conversed for some time about books, both Muggle and Magical, while seated at a table in the back of the shop. The day went passed them so quickly that Hermione hated when it was time for them to part.

“I promised Blaise and Theo we’d hang out a bit before the dance tonight. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise. We both made plans before.. all of this. We can’t flake on our friends.”

Draco leaned forward, gently placing his lips on hers. Her stomach flutter at the soft touch.

“Are you ready to head back as well?”

“No, I think I’ll stay a little longer before heading up.”

“Okay, sounds good.” Draco gave her another quick kiss before standing from their table.

Hermione stayed at their table for another half an hour, reading the book she purchased.

When the sun began to set, Hermione put on her coat and hat, grabbed her book, and headed out of the shop.

She had been walking for just a few minutes before she heard her name called behind her. She turned to find a young girl running up to her.

“Hello”, Hermione greeted.

“Hi”, she replied out of breath. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“Is there something I can help you with?”

“You don’t recognise me?”

Hermione looked at her closer. “I’m sorry, no.”

“I’m Rosemary, fifth-year Ravenclaw. You and Draco Malfoy caught my friends and I making chocolates last week.”

“Right, right. I remember. What can I do for you?”

Rosemary looked down at her hands nervously. “I’m wondering about something, but I’ve been scared to come to you.”

“Okay?”

Rosemary looked behind her, pulling on her fingers. Hermione followed her line of sight and saw two more figures in the distance.

“What’s the matter, Rosemary?”

She turned back to Hermione, her eyes watering. “I don’t want to get into trouble.”

“Just take a deep breath, I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

“It’s just that Julie told Veronica and I that you took care of it. But now I’m just freaking out that you didn’t-”

“Wait, what?”

“-because Malfoy is acting all weird.”

“That I didn’t what?”

Rosemary looked intensely at Hermione. “Did you give Malfoy the chocolates we made?”

“Yes, why?”

Hermione heard Rosemary curse softly under her breath.

“I’m so lost, Rosemary. Just start from the beginning.”

Rosemary took a deep breath, calming herself.

“Okay, so here’s the thing. We were talking about not having boyfriends again this year and saying how we hated being single.”

Hermione nodded along.

“And that sucks, you know? Like everyone one seems to have someone and that’s just not fair.”

“I can understand that.”

“And we’re not bad people or anything. You know that, right?”

“No, I know.”

“But,” she sniffed. “But we thought maybe it’s our time to know what it’s like. So, maybe we could just give someone…” she trailed off.

“Give someone homemade chocolate?”

Rosemary pressed her palm into her eyes, unable to make eye contact with Hermione. “Laced with a love potion.”

Hermione looked at her in disapproval. “With what?!”, she exclaimed.

“I know, I know. But it’s not what you think. Sort of.”

“How in th-“ Hermione took a deep breath as a million thoughts ran through her mind. “Explain to me how this isn’t what I think it is.”

“It’s not like a normal love potion.”

“What did you three do _exactly_?”

Rosemary started looking everywhere but Hermione. “Um, so…” She started pulling on Hermione fingers again. “Okay, right. So, we talked about how much we hated how like gushy people are on the potion.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So Julie was all like ‘Hey, Rose? You’re great at potions. Can’t we just make one that doesn’t have them as gushy?’ And I was like ‘Yeah, maybe. But we have to probably change the recipe or add something else to it for balance or whatever.’“

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand in shock. “Tell me you didn’t.”

Rosemary looked at Hermione with tears down her face. “So Veronica said she’d get her cousin that makes potions on the side to send us some Felix Felicis.”

Hermione stared at Rosemary, speechless.

“Then we did some research about how different potions reaction with each other, that way no one would get hurt.”

Hermione absorbed the story, confused at how these girls could do something so foolish, so dangerous. “And the batch you did, the one I gave to Draco, how exactly was it supposed to work?”

“What we wanted was for each chocolate to last for maybe a few hours, but we were still figuring that out. So it could be for even longer, I’m not sure. The intensity and duration would increase with the number of chocolates the person ate. The basics of the Love Potion worked as normal, just not as long or have the loopy side effects.”

“And the Felix Felicis?”, she questioned.

“That was there to give them a sort of confidence effect.”

“Why would you need that?”

Rosemary sighed, looking down at her hands. “We were going to send it to the people we wanted anonymously. But since it was still gifted from us, that part of the magic from the love potion would still work.”

“Okay?”

“And the Felix Felicis would just give them the sense of confidence they needed to approach us.”

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. All Hermione had the strength to do at that moment was think back to Thursday night, when Draco started acting strange.

What the girls put together worked exactly how they wanted to. All too well.

 _And you were stupid enough to fall for it,_ she thought.

Hermione looked down at the girl crying in front of her. “You could have killed someone with this. Or at best, done some serious damage. This is so irresponsible.”

“But we did the research!”

“That’s not the point!”, Hermione shouted. Hermione took a step back, waiting for her anger to subside.

“Are we expelled?”, Rosemary asked with a shaky voice.

“That’s not up to me, that’s up to Headmaster Dumbledore.”

“I’m so- We’re so sorry, Hermione.”

Hermione looked at Rosemary with disapproval. “You need to go”,

“But-“

“No, leave now. You’ll know when I’ve spoken to the Headmaster.”

Hermione watched as Rosemary went back to her friends, one tried to come over to her but she was stopped by the other two.

When they were gone, Hermione finally let herself feel everything.

She tried to walk back towards the castle, she had to find Draco. She had to tell him everything.

But she couldn’t. Her body wouldn’t let her.

Hermione could stop the aching cry that came. She leaned against a tree for support as she let the hot tears stain her cheeks.

_It meant nothing. It all meant… Nothing. Every word. Every kiss. It was a lie._

*~*

Hermione was on auto piolet as she got ready that evening. The other Gryffindor ladies tried to shake her out of it best they could but struggled.

If she was left to herself for more than a few seconds, she got lost in her thoughts and stopped getting ready.

When she was finally done, Hermione looked at herself in the mirror. She loved the floor-length, navy blue dress Ginny help her pick out. The off-shoulder look was something new for her but at the time, she wanted to try something different.

Right now, she wanted to curl up in her oversized hoodie and have the night in with Crookshanks.

“All ready to head down?”, Ginny asked behind her.

Hermione looked at her friend’s reflection, trying her best to give a convincing smile. “Yeah, let’s go.”

“Hermione, what’s going on? You’ve done a 180 from when I saw you in Three Broomsticks with Malfoy.”

Hermione looked down and mentally tripped over the words to say. “I just- We…” She sighed. “It’s nothing. I just have to handle some things.”

Ginny walked up to her friend, hugging her. “Nothing you need to worry about tonight. Let’s go have fun!”

Hermione let the comment pass and the pair headed down to the common room to meet up with the others. After taking a few pictures, the small group headed down to the Great Hall.

As they made their way down the final set of stairs, Hermione saw Draco waiting at the bottom for her. Leaning against the wall, she saw that he was wearing deep blue dress robes, paired with a white shirt, and black tie.

She smiled softly as she descended, placing her hand atop of his as he reached out towards her.

“You look amazing”, he told her as he drank her in.

“Thank you. So do you. How did you pull this off?”, she asked him.

“I spoke with she-Weasley today about your dress, did an emergency shop. You like?”, he asked with a smirk.

She wanted to say yes. She tried to say yes. But Hermione knew that this wasn’t him saying these words or doing these things to impress her.

Hermione gently squeezed the hand she held. “We need to talk”, she told him with a sad smile.

“That doesn’t sound good. Are you alright?”, he asked her, tucking hair behind her ear.

“Let’s go find somewhere quiet.”

Hermione led them away from the Great Hall, ignoring the intriguing looks of the other students. She let out a sigh of relief when the first classroom she tried was unlocked.

Closing the door behind them, Hermione pointed to the desk closest to her. “You should sit down.”

“The more you talk, the more I get worried.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you. This is just very important and I have to tell you.”

“You can tell me anything, Hermione.”

She took a deep breath, looked into his beautiful grey eyes, and started.

“You know those girls we caught last week making chocolates?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so here’s the thing…”

Hermione recounted everything Rosemary told her that day. She was pacing as she told him this, her heels being the only other sound in the room. He sat there, let her talk without interrupting. When she finished, she waited for him to react.

But he just sat there and didn’t speak for a few minutes.

He just sat there, elbows on the desk, leaning on his hands.

“We need to get you to Madam Pomfrey right now”, she continued. “We don’t know what sort of side effects these potions could have long term. You’ve been eating them for at least two days now!”

“It was barely 24 hours.”

Hermione stopped in front of Draco, her brows drawn in confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

Draco ran a hand through his hair and exhale deeply.

“I haven’t had any of it since Friday evening.”

Hermione was shaking. “You knew? This whole time, you knew!”

Draco held his hands up in defence. “Not exactly.”

“Then please explain this to me because it seems like everyone is in on this joke at my expense.”

“I didn’t understand what was going on until I had this massive crash before dinner last night. The last time I had some of the chocolates was during our class together.”

“Wouldn’t you have noticed yesterday morning after waking up?”

Draco shrugged. “I just thought I was having a shitty morning. Then I saw the bag you gave me, ate a couple and after a bit, I was fine.”

Hermione walked around the desk and sat next to him. “I mean, that sort of makes sense, I suppose”, she said trying to collect her thoughts. “Tell me about the crash.”

“My body felt tired, my mind felt empty”, Draco started, getting lost in the memory. “I went to go lay down in my room. I could recall everything I did that day, but it had this almost rose-coloured glass over it.”

He turned to face her. “Then I thought back to the night before last when I first started feeling like I could do anything and had no consequences.”

Draco reached out, cupping Hermione’s face with his hand. “There was nothing there holding me back from telling you how I felt.”

“Holding you back? I’ve seen you flirt with other girls, date other girls.”

He scoffed and whispered, “You have no idea what you do to me, do you?”

Hermione sat there dumbfounded.

“How have you not noticed? I have been flirting with you for months, trying to test the waters to see if there was something there.”

“Why didn’t you just say something.”

“I wanted to but every time I thought about it, I just let something else get in my way.”

“Like what?”

“Pretty much everything you said the other night. Take your pick: family, media, my friends, your friends.”

Hermione nodded in understanding.

“A lot of it was me not being sure if you wanted to be with me”, he continued. “But at the end of it all, I wanted to protect you.”

Draco held her face with both hands now. “I told you, I’ll be damned if I let anyone hurt you, that includes me.”

“And now?”

“I still want to keep you safe from all the drama. The easiest thing would be for us to go back to being friends but…”

“But?”

“When I kissed you, that all changed.”

Hermione pulled away and turned her back to him. She hugged herself, trying to shake to chill that was deep in her. “How do I even know this is you right now? You’re acting just like you did when you were eating those damn things. How can I know for sure that this is you?”

“Remember how late I was last night?”

She nodded.

“I retraced my steps after my crash. Wondering what could have led up to it, what I ate or drank, who I talked to. I realised the last thing I had Thursday night before bed and Friday evening was the chocolate. I went straight to the potions lab with them and tried to figure out what was going on.”

“And you couldn’t”, she said, turning to show her profile.

“And I couldn’t”, he agreed. “The components were too muddled from the mixing of two potions, on top of all the chocolate and flavouring ingredients.”

Hermione finally faced him fully. “So, this is you. This is the real Malfoy.”

Draco smirked at her and shook his head. “No, this is the real Draco.”

He walked over and wrapped his arms around her. “This the Draco that wants to be with you and hopes you want to be with him too.”

“I do but-“

“No. No more ‘buts’.” Do you want to be with me?”

“Yes”, she told him without hesitation.

“Okay then”, he said with certainty. “I’m yours.”

Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face down to meet hers.

This was it this time. No more doubts, no more second-guessing. Draco was hers and she would pour every ounce of reassurance into this kiss.

He pulled her close against him, his arms placed tenderly around her. He nipped at her bottom lip, teasing her as he took control.

She knew that whatever they were worried about, they get through it together.

Hermione was lost in him, lost in the moment they shared. She didn’t want it to ever end.

Draco pulled back, his breath dancing over her lips. “You are going to be the death of me.”

Hermione laughed lightly.

“You promised me a dance”, he told her, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

“I did.”

“I’m holding you to it.”

“Do we have to go?” she asked him.

Draco placed a final kiss on her forehead before he grabbed her hand. “This is not going to be the last kiss, I promise you that.”

He led them out of the room and over to the Great Hall. She looked over at Draco and smiled. She was still concerned about him and would encourage him to go to Madame Pomfrey in the morning. But for now, she was going to enough the night with him.

They walked hand in hand, the sound of music growing louder as they entered. Draco spun her around playfully as he pulled her to the dance floor.

Hermione looked at Draco in front of her and couldn’t be happier with where they were now. Maybe the story of how they got together wasn’t like other stories, and she had no idea how theirs would end. But she was determined to enjoy every moment of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello reader :D You got to the end! I hoped you enjoyed the fic. I know it wasn’t all sunshine and stuff like a full blown WAFF but I think a little angst and overthinking is always nice. Keeps things interesting :3 
> 
> I hope to post again soon. I’m in the middle of writing a multi-chapter fic as well as some one shots (like this) I work on in between when I’m stuck on my larger work. 
> 
> Bye for now and hope to see you again soon!


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